Football
SportsTicker 19y

Harden, Chacin square off in rubber game

TORONTO - Two of the top young pitchers in the American
League square off Thursday in the rubber game of a three-game
set between the Oakland Athletics and the Toronto Blue Jays.

Oakland's Rich Harden (5-3, 2.15 ERA) has been sensational since
coming back from the disabled list, going 3-0 with a 0.51 ERA
in three starts, with opponents hitting just .117 against him.

The 23-year-old Harden is 3-1 with a 1.48 ERA in four road
starts this season, but 0-2 with a 5.25 ERA in four career
starts against Toronto.

The Blue Jays hand the ball to Gustavo Chacin (6-5, 3.59), who
is winless in his last five starts, going 0-1 with a 5.34 ERA in
that stretch.

The 24-year-old lefthander has lasted longer than six innings
just twice in his last 11 starts. He logged five innings and
yielded four runs in Saturday's 6-4 loss to Boston.

Chacin has faced Oakland once this season, allowing two runs in
six innings to pick up the win on April 11.

After the A's recorded a 10-7 victory Tuesday in the series
opener, Toronto responded with an 8-0 triumph Wednesday behind
seven stellar innings from ex-Athletic Ted Lilly and a three-run
blast from Vernon Wells.

Jason Kendall had two hits for Oakland, which lost for just the
second time in 12 games.

^ Back to Top ^